The many faces of Summer Mission

Songs:

Frontline Generation – A Nation is Born

Frontline Generation – MengenalMu yang Mulia

Day 19 August 1, 2008 – Pontianak

The team gathered early ready to head back to Pontianak. It was a 12 hours bus ride full of chatter and laughter among the team. We even learned a very interesting lesson from Ps. Mike that day; how to use your sarong to become a ninja/terrorist.

We arrived in Pontianak around 8 pm at night and were greeted by Pdt. Yakobus and the local church member of GBDI. Without wasting anymore time, the team had devotion together where Ps. Mike shared to us about the 10/40 window as describe by the missioner Luis Bush. Ps. Mike opened our eyes to the condition in our own country Indonesia, how many people have not even heard of the name of Jesus as well as the condition of the Christians in Indonesia. He also mentioned how there is so much opportunity to develop Indonesia’s rich natural resources to actually improve the living condition of the people as well. Ps. Mike encouraged as well as challenged us; in pursuing our dream to also think of ways to make a difference in this country.

We then took our time to share what we learn from this mission trip as well as our opinion on each other. The team shared their gratitude and word of encouragement to one another. Each member learned more about themselves through this sharing. We ended the devotion with a prophetic prayer for each team member led by Ps. Mike, Mrs. Novie Chrisdion and Ps. Franky. Without us realizing it the time ran quickly, it was 1 am in the morning. The music team headed to the hotel for their rest as they will have to serve in 4 churches the next day while the rest of the team stayed in the church’s hall to chat and write notes to each other.

It was 5 in the morning and the team started to pack up and load all of the equipment to the truck and catch their flight back to Jakarta. We were greeted by Ps. Daniel Hanafi in the Jakarta airport eager to hear the result of our Mission Trip. The team was happy to go home and see their family but at the same time, sad that their time together has ended. They bid each other farewell for the very last time while keeping this summer mission memory and lesson vivid in their heart.

Ps. Mike praying prophetic prayer

Ci Novie

Ps. Franky

Final SM Picture with Ps. Daniel Hanafi

Day 18 July 31, 2008 – Nanga Pinoh

Today could be said to be the last day of this mission trip as it will be the last day for the crusade and any other activities. The team woke up early ready to give their all for this last day. We started the day with a love, sex and dating seminar. 425 youth attended the seminar listening closely to what each Summer Mission members had to share. We challenged them to lead a holy life and save sex till after marriage. 340 youth responded to the call and dedicate themselves to God. At the same time a seminar for church leaders was held with Ps Franky as the speaker, it was attended by 55 people. Later in the afternoon, Ps. Franky also gave a businessman seminar which was attended by 40 people.

The team prepared for the night crusade expecting a great breakthrough to happen that night. We opened our last crusade with another puppet show for the children. That night crusade was as amazing as the previous day’s crusade. 18000 people came hungry for God. Ps. Franky preached about soaring up high like an eagle and again we challenged them to let go of any dark magic they possessed. 16200 people responded to the call. Things became even more frantic during the healing prayer. When we asked those who are healed to come up front and gave their testimony, numerous came up front but only 15 were actually healed and ready to give their testimony, the rest were there asking to come up stage to be prayed for healing. Some of our team member prayed for them but as number kept increasing, Ps. Mike asked us to stop praying for them and told them that it is not us who can heal them but it is God and that even if they pray for themselves, they can still be healed. We encouraged them to pray for themselves and to believe by faith that they have received the healing from God.

As the crusade ended, the team were glad that it all went well, proud of all of the accomplishment and at the same time sad that it was all over. The team packed up all of the equipment for the very last time and did inventory on all the equipment. The team then chatted for a while trying to savor every moment they have left with each other before finally getting their rest.

LSD Seminar

Business Man Seminar

The congregation

The people who came up and asked to be prayed for

Day 17 July 30, 2008 – Nanga Pinoh

The team woke up early in the morning enthusiastic to start the journey to our last city Nanga Pinoh. We stopped in Sintang and visited Ps. Henry at GKII for lunch. It was good to be able to meet with the committee in Sintang again and to be able to update them on what happened in Semitau. The girls who arrived earlier helped out the committee to cook the lunch.

On our way to Pinoh, we also made a stop to one inspiring Korean Missioner Mr Kim. He opened up a hospital, a school and an orphanage in Kalimantan. When asked what made him come to Indonesia having no relatives here, he could only answer because it was God’s will and he came to Indonesia bringing God’s love.

We then continue our journey to Pinoh and reached there at around 2.30. Ms. Maritan greeted us and served us with another lunch. Because of the time constrain, we were only given 15 minutes to eat before we rushed to the field to set up. The whole team set up with much enthusiasm as Pinoh will be the last city in our trip. The crusade started with an opening ceremony fro the local committee. Speeches were given by the Wakil- Bupati as well as by the coordinator of the local committee Ms. Marintan. The local youths presented a performance by singing a song “Pulihkan negeri kami” (heal our country). The song was sung beautifully by two local youths with a heart for God and our country.

After waiting for days, our equipment had finally arrived from Ternate. We were finally able to have the puppet show for the kids in Nanga Pinoh. 115 children went up front and watched the show with excitement and learned that the only way to go to heaven is through Jesus Christ. Even at a very young age, you could see that they are passionate to know more about Jesus.

The crusade was attended by 21000 people hungry and thirsty to receive the new anointing from God. God’s presence and work was amazing that night. God has revealed to us what this city needed. Even though they believe in Jesus, yet they still believe in the power of dark magic. Ps. Mike preached and challenged them to leave all the dark magic and lead a holy life according to God. 17850 responded to the altar call and recommit their lives to Christ. Many were also healed that night. There were tons of people came up front to give a testimony on their healing however due to the time limit, we were only able to let 25 of them to come up stage.

The girls helping with the cooking

with Mr Kim

Setting up

Annette and Adit doing the Puppet show

Day 16 July 29, 2008 – Semitau

The day was started with an unexpected devotion among the members. Each member shared their most memorable moment during summer mission and what they have learned so far. Most of the team shared how they are so proud of the team for going on strong and how they feel that the team bonded really well. The team who went to previous Summer Mission even mentioned that compared to this year’s mission, last year was a walk in the park; however they feel that this team bonded in one unity that no previous team can compare to.

Meanwhile, a businessman seminar was held by Ps. Franky in one of the church in Semitau. The team had a time to walk around the neighborhood after lunch before setting up. The night crusade was attended by 910 people. Ps Franky preached for the first time in this mission trip and 82 people receiving Jesus as their savior. Two people were healed during the healing prayer. One man suffered from kidney stone and heart problem for a year. By his faith, he was completely healed.

It was the birthday of Ps. Joshua, one of the Pastor in Semitau. We celebrated his birthday along with our farewell dinner. Ps. Mike felt the burden to pray for all of the church leaders in Semitau before we leave. And so we did. We packed up all of our equipment after. Packing up this time round was a breeze as most of the team members were accustomed to it.

Business Man Seminar

The multimedia team

The Children prasing God

Diner with the Local Commitee

Praying for the Church Leader

Day 15 July 28, 2008 – Semitau

The team was ready by 5 in the morning for Semitau. However problems regarding the transportation soon emerged. The bus we were anticipating was not how we thought it would be. It was old, rusty and could only fit 12 people inside. While asking how we will fit the whole team inside, the committee answered that some of the team members could ride at the top of the bus! Not having enough rest for the night, Ps. Mike feared that in their sleepy state the team members would actually fall from the top of the bus. With our safety as the top priority, Ps. Mike refused to go on the journey without a proper transportation even if that means canceling the night crusade. After several phone calls, we were given 3 extra vehicles including two trucks.

It journey to Semitau was 5 hours long on a bumpy road. Looking at the road’s condition, we were thankful that none of the members had to go on top of the bus. We arrived slightly before noon and Ps. Daniel, one of the church leaders in Semitau greeted us. After lunch, we headed to the field and set up for the night crusade. That day, our team member set a record for the fastest set up time during this mission trip. The night crusade was attended by 1500 people thirsty and hungry for the Lord. 400 people received Jesus and 5 were healed during the healing prayer.

It was the last crusade for Ps. Chris and our youngest member Joshua. We had farewell devotion soon after the crusade. Ps Chris encouraged us once more to finish strong in our life. Many who were on fire during Summer Mission faltered and fell when they were back to reality. As a matter of fact, he could calculate by hand the number of people who were in summer mission and are now still on fire or attended church. He also took an example of Billy Graham on how he is now the only one standing among his team of 3 spiritual leaders. One of them even turned into an atheist. He reminded us that there will be more trials after Summer Mission and we will be tested if we could stand up for Christ the way we do during Summer Mission. The war does not end when this mission ended. The war starts when we are back to our normal life. He challenged us to finish strong in this race and that he would want to hear great things about us in the future. That night, the girls had an interesting encounter with cockroaches and spiders crawling on their bed.

The bus we had to ride on

Trying to avoid the hole

Farewell devotion for Ps. Chris and Josh

Day 14 July 27, 2008 – Sintang

It was the last day in Sintang and the team woke up early in the morning ready to be a blessing to churches in Sintang. The team were divided to groups and spread out to bless over 10 churches in Sintang. The male have the opportunity to preach again for the second time with more direction from our leaders. We preached to a total of 1500 people while 250 recommit their lives to Christ.

The afternoon after, we were served with a sumptuous feast at a restaurant owned by one of the local committee. “Terapung” which translates as “floating” was the name of the restaurant as it was floating on the lake of Kapuas. Few of the team members then visited the hospital to pray and give hope to the sick. We also visited the house of the right hand of the previous Bupati of Sintang. He had suffered an uncommon sickness for more than a year. It was impossible for him to lie down as he would suffocate and soon be out of breath, his belly and feet was extremely swollen that it was hard for him to stand of walk on his own. We soon found out the root of his sickness, dark magic amulet. Being an important person in the government, he possessed few dark spirits to protect him from any danger. Although he had burned of most of his amulet, there was a few that he still kept. After talking to him and sharing the Gospel with him, he agreed to give up his entire amulet and instead ask the protection of God.

At the same time, Ps. Franky held a Business Man Seminar which was attended by 35 people. The rest of the team however, was cleaning the interior of all our lighting equipment. Due to the rain on the first day, our lighting was not working properly and we had decided to open all of them and clean the interior. Praise God that it was working perfectly fine after we clean them.

The Crusade that night went perfectly well until half way through praise and worship. The rain started to fall. Few of the team members rushed up stage to cover all the equipment and hold the umbrella for the music team. The committee thought of moving the sermon inside when Mr. Crosby approached Ps. Chris and told him to have the sermon outside still and ensure all of us that God will not stay still and the rain will soon stop. True enough, the rain soon stopped.

The rain Stopped

Miracle happened once more when Ps. Chris prayed for healing. An old man on a wheel chair walked across the field to the stage! And he was also able to see clearly after we prayed for him the second time! As soon as we finished the crusade, the rain started pouring down hard.

We were again served with a banquet at the Bupati’s house after the crusade. He soon shared the reason why he was so convinced the rain was going to stop. While taking a nap that afternoon he had a dream that he had killed a snake. In his faith, he believed the devil had been crushed and the victory is ours.

We head back to the field after dinner to pack up all of the equipments. It was still raining hard but none of our team members complained. Packing up took longer due to the rain and the fact that we had to clean all of the equipments from the mud. At the same time, we had to make sure that none of the lighting equipment’s interior was wet. It was 2 am in the morning when we finally finished packing up. The team head back to their dorm to clean up and have a short rest before heading to Semitau.

SM team with the Bupati

Dinner with Bupati

The rain Stopped

Rain during Praise and worship

Cleaning the lights

Business Man Seminar

Lunch at Terapung

Day 13 July 26, 2008 – Sintang

The team woke up early in the morning excited to see what is to come that day. Despite being soaking wet the other night, none of the team members showed any sign of sickness. We had devotional shared by Ps. Chris. He shared to us the different between God’s extraordinary worker and a normal worker, that in order to become His extraordinary worker, we have to go an extra-mile rather than doing what we were told to do.

In the afternoon the team was divided into two; one group to bring the seminar for Love, Sex and Dating and the other to go to the orphanage. At the same time, Ps. Chris gave “Maximum Impact” seminar for church leaders and ministers. 500 youths came to the LSD seminar bringing tons of questions (even weird ones too). At the end of the seminar, we challenged them to have a holy life despite the norm of this modern world. 150 of them responded.

LSD Seminar

At the orphanage, we were greeted with much enthusiasm. We soon found out that they have been waiting for us to visit them since last year. Aditya shared to them about having dreams in our life and how to achieve them. At the end of his sharing, he asked each individual to stand up and tell the rest of us his/her dream. To be a doctor, teacher, government official as well as the army was among these orphans’ dream. It was truly inspiring to see that they have big dreams but we challenge them to not just have an ordinary dream, not to be a normal doctor or teacher but to go beyond all that. We divided the group to be able to get to know them better and to be able to talk to them and answer any question there is as well as to pray for them individually.

The night crusade was amazing. The sky was clear from any sign of rain and we were able to hold the crusade without any disruption. 15000 people attended the crusade with 11250 who recommit their live to Christ. 100 were healed during the healing prayer. Among the people who gave testimony was a lady who suffered from thyroid for quite sometime. She told us how she attended the crusade with Ps. Daniel Hanafi last year and her thyroid shrink when he prayed for healing. Although she had not been fully healed at that time, she kept the faith that she had received the healing from God. She was present at the crusade yesterday and in the midst of the rain, she prayed for healing and by her faith, she was completely healed.

The Crusade

The orphans

Group Session at the Orphanage

Maximum Impact Seminar

LSD Seminar

Day 12 July 25, 2008 – Sintang

We arrived in Sintang at 1 in the morning.and were soon assigned to our room. After the long and tiring journey, we were given extra time to rest that night. Instead of the usual devotion time at 7, we gathered at 10 to make sure the whole team had enough sleep. The devotion was started by the introduction of our new team members, Ps. Franky then shared a verse from 2 Corinthians 10 :3-6 reminding us that our weapon for this war is not of the world but the weapon of God. Ps. Chris added by asking us how are we going to finish this race. There are tons of people who started the race strong. They were on fire and serve the Lord with all their hearts and soul during previous summer missions but as soon as they were back to reality and faced with the problem of the world, they stumble and fall. Ps Chris reminded us that we should finish this race strong and as a winner.

We had a surprised visit from the Bupati of Sintang, Mr Milton Crosby, as soon as we ended our devotion. The Pastoral team chatted with him and he shared on how he was not afraid of being fired by the higher authority if he stands up for his faith. Mr. Milton Crosby is truly a real disciple of Christ and he lives according to God’s word.

The afternoon heat was excruciating. However the team did not complain and they start setting up. But it seems that the devil would not leave us without any fight. One hour before the crusade starts the rain started pouring on our field. Our projector screen was not even fully up and the local people refused to climb up and set it up due to the wind. Leaving us with no choice, our team members took this task to their own hand; we climbed up to set it up ourselves. Alas the weather did not get any better. The rain poured down even harder than before while people have gathered around the field for the crusade. We were about to cancel the crusade when Mr. Crosby approached Ps. Chris, encouraged him and asked him to continue this crusade even with a short sermon and so we did.

It was the first time in Summer Mission history to have rain almost every single day of the crusade and of course, it was the first time we ever held a crusade in the midst of the rain, with and umbrella. 10000 attended the crusade in the middle of the rain, some even soaking wet. We believe it was because of their thirst and hunger for God. God’s presence was so thick in the atmosphere and we believe it was not only raining literally but the spiritual rain of God was also taking place. Ps. Chris still prayed for repentance and healing, 5000 received Jesus Christ as their God and King of their lives. It doesn’t matter what obstacle comes our way, we will continue to fight for Jesus and we believe that His favor will be upon us. We have won the battle that day and we believe that we are more than a conqueror.

Setting up on hot sunny day

The Sky getting dark

Preparing to start the crusade in the rain

The Congregration

The Crusade with Umbrella

Day 11 July 24, 2008 – Travel to Sintang

Without any sleep, the team began their 26 hour journey to Sintang. We headed to the port in Jailolo to board a speed boat to Ternate scheduled at 2am. We had trouble trying to load all of our equipment on one speed boat; hence we decided to rent another speed boat just for our equipment. It was a 2 hour ride to ternate and the boat was moving slowly as it was dark. Once we arrived at Ternate, we rushed to the airport to catch our flight to Ambon. Checking in was a tedious process due to the amount and weight of our equipments. This time round, we were 200 kg overweight. It was 4:30 am in the morning, tiredness and sleepiness were in the faces of our members. Some even took the opportunity to sleep while waiting for the check-in process

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The plane soon took off and we stopped in Ambon and Makassar for transit before we arrive in Jakarta. Despite the short transit time, the whole team had to leave the plane and bring all of our hand carry along. It was hard for us to find time to rest due to that. During the trip, our sister Annette had a problem with her eyes. It was difficult for her to see and open her eyes as the smallest amount of light gave a burning sensation to her eye. There was a chance that she might not be able to continue the trip to Kalimantan with us. Ps. Chris prayed for her and by the time we arrived in Jakarta, she was completely healed. Annette’s mum greeted us in Jakarta and even brought lunch boxes for us. We bid farewell to Charlina, Stacy and Mr. Jemmy for one last time. Two new members joined us for the second half of the trip; Ps. Franky Lumingkewas from Seattle and Alfian Palar from WHC- Jakarta.

We arrived in Pontianak at 2:30 in the afternoon and checked out all our baggage. However, Six of our equipments were missing. A man soon approached us and informed us that those six items were left in Ternate due to the weight. Those equipments include two amplifiers, puppet stage, Panasonic projector and Line arrays. Ps. Michael along with Ps. Ronny from Sintang discussed the situation with the manager from Lion Air as we needed those items for the next day crusade. It was however, impossible to have those equipment shipped and arrived before the crusade. Lion Air agreed to cover the rent fee for the two amplifiers while Ps. Mike agreed to make the crusade work with only one projector.

By 4:30 pm in the evening, we started our journey to Sintang. It was an 8 hour drive on an extremely bumpy road. Some of the team members had difficulty sleeping due to the road condition hence they took this opportunity to share their life experience with each other. The road gets better after two hours and the team finally gets the time to rest. Overall, it was an interesting journey.

Ps. Chris

The team sleeping while waiting for the check-in process

Yohanes.. hyper early in the morning..